Moving to Austria (EU passport) and pregnant

Hi

We are building a house in Tirol that will be ready in a couple of months.

My wife and I and our son are all EU passport holders but never lived in the EU.

My wife is pregnant and we would like to come over towards the 6th month and stay in Austria for the birth as well.

We would be self-employed eventually and I'm curious about what should we do to be able to receive medical health care and to be able to deliver the baby and all the doctor's checks before the birth.

Do we need to register anywhere to receive health care? can we do it beforehand?
What is the monthly cost for normal health insurance for the family?

Thanks a lot,
Ron.

The easiest way is get a EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) I think or get travel insurance.

is this mainly for UK citizens?

We are not. We are currently living in Israel and our citizenship is from Romania (which we never lived in)

do you think its possible still to get it?

Travel insurance doesn't cover pre natal checks.

EHIC is available for all EU citizens not just the UK, if you unable to get one and if pre natal checks are not covered you will have to pay I am sorry until you start paying taxes and are employed.

Just a point on EHIC cards, generally, they are only for emergency medical treatment while visiting another EU member state.  I know of some countries where they do not deem child-birth as a medical emergency, but instead, offer cover as part of their national health insurance scheme, so should you go the EHIC route, then I recommend you check that first.

I doubt we could get EHIC card from what I read.

And the issue with insurance is that you need to pay them 12 months before usually.

we might just decide to postpone our move in a year because of this :(

You can register (and pay) for Austrian state health insurance (OEGK), but unless you can show that you have been insured continuously for the previous 6 months, you and your family will have a 6 month waiting period while you're paying for insurance but not eligible for coverage.  I think the insurance has to be within the EU, but I don't know that for certain.  You'll have to do some investigating.  There are less expensive travel insurance plans that you can purchase for the 6 month waiting period (not sure you'll get coverage, though, if your wife is pregnant!  They're really picky about who they'll cover).  You'll have to shop around for that. 

As a dual US/Italy citizen, I moved first to Italy, established residency and enrolled in Italian state health insurance.  Then after about a year, I decided to move to Austria.  I was able to get a form from Italy to show that I had been insured in Italy (I think the form applies to all EU countries).  So I got around the problem of the 6 month waiting period.

Because your wife is pregnant, your timing is pretty bad.  If you have established healthcare where you currently are, staying put until after the birth may be a safer bet.  I don't know anything about the accessibility and quality of medical care in Tyrol.  It does vary around Austria.  I've been here for 6 months, including through the COVID-19 lockdown, and I have been paying for most of my healthcare out of pocket in spite of having insurance.  Public system doctors have been unavailable, and there have been many other difficulties.  Make sure you spend quite a bit of time gathering information before you make your move.  If you don't know anyone where you're moving, you'll be at a disadvantage when it comes to trying to learn how to do things.

Thank you for your reply.

Will try to figure out a way to check that in advance.

Hi,

Why don't you use this governmental website? It's helpful for registration.

https://www.migration.gv.at/en/types-of … in-the-eu/

We have talked to the social health insurance guys, and they say that if I get a job then my wife will be immediately covered for all the hospital things and we don't need to have a 6 month wait period.

jay108 wrote:

We have talked to the social health insurance guys, and they say that if I get a job then my wife will be immediately covered for all the hospital things and we don't need to have a 6 month wait period.


As I said as soon as you start paying tax and national insurance :)